Letters: Snapped: assessing the Fort Hood shooting

April 13, 2014

Updated April 11, 2014 3:05 p.m.

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General Mark Milley, III Corps and Fort Hood Commanding General, speaks to press during a press conference on April 3, 2014 in Fort Hood, Texas. The investigation continues into why Lopez did the shooting on the base. DREW ANTHONY SMITH GETTY IMAGES

General Mark Milley, III Corps and Fort Hood Commanding General, speaks to press during a press conference on April 3, 2014 in Fort Hood, Texas. The investigation continues into why Lopez did the shooting on the base. DREW ANTHONY SMITH GETTY IMAGES

NEWPORT BEACH, Tom Burnham: As a 30-year human resource executive, I believe most news broadcasters have missed the environmental factors that may have led to the recent Fort Hood shooting [“Fort Hood shooting victim remembered for bravery,”

General Mark Milley, III Corps and Fort Hood Commanding General, speaks to press during a press conference on April 3, 2014 in Fort Hood, Texas. The investigation continues into why Lopez did the shooting on the base (Getty Images).

News, April 4]. The administration recently announced a major reduction of 15 percent of U.S. Army personnel. I know from experience that the internal strife created for personnel with this announcement can be quite unsettling. The commander-in-chief’s message is that you are simply disposable.

Spc. Ivan Antonio Lopez was a 15-year “Specialist 4,” hardly a high achiever, and likely to be placed on the reduction-in-force list. I am sure he was bright enough to understand his predicament. After 15 years in the Army with no pension, limited job prospects, four children, a wife and an ex-wife, the economic pressure on him must have been beyond comprehension. I make no excuses for his actions, but I do blame the lack of human resource sophistication that underlies this event.

From a human resources perspective, reductions in force should be announced and implemented immediately with appropriate support, counseling and re-employment support in place. Just as we witnessed with Obamacare, the White House fumbled. It is obvious that the administration desired to shrink the military without forethought about the human implications. We needed men and women to fight our wars, but now they are simply disposable.

As Obama worries about the medically uninsured, pay inequality, minimum wage and the other social-justice issues of the day, he seems to not care about those who, since Sept. 11, have given so much.

If we must reduce the workforce, we should simply attrit the numbers over time. This is the human way to deal with a reduction in force.

Our president should remember that we reap what we sow.

______

IRVINE, William Lewis: The recent shootings at Fort Hood should never have happened. Our military needs to escalate psychological protocols to properly identify service-members who suffer from myriad mental problems and may pose a lethal threat. These people should be recognized without public stigma and provided with therapy as quickly as possible. The old “waiting room” philosophy that “time heals all wounds” does not apply under these conditions.

Post traumatic stress disorder is often discussed and positive advancements have been made. However, not near enough is being done. Helping these veterans should be our No. 1 priority, with no expense spared.

With disengagement on the horizon for Afghanistan, not to mention the wholesale reduction in force across all of our military branches, untold numbers of servicemembers will be returning while others face involuntary separation/discharge at the “convenience of the government.” This will place a tremendous burden on the military to provide whatever resources it might take to address these issues on an individual basis.

Society will also have to provide paths and resources for veterans’ assimilation into civilian life. It is not a matter to be tabled due to political inaction or rhetoric. The time to act is now – if it is not already too late.

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